Wednesday, June 11, 2008

For the first time, a gene from an extinct animal has been inserted into a living animal to assess gene function. Not quite Jurassic Park, but very interesting.

The Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger became extinct in 1936 when the last one died in captivity. The species had been among the living dead for decades before. Neaderthal DNA has been partially sequenced. I wonder how long before investigators begin gene function research.